Oilman Pleads in Oil-for-Food Case

A Texas oilman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ending his trial on charges he paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to win contracts.

Under the deal, Oscar Wyatt, pleaded guilty to one count and likely will be sentenced to a term of 18-to-24 months under federal sentencing guidelines, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Wyatt, 83, was on trial in U.S. District Court in New York on charges that he had illegal dealings with the Iraqis during the 1990s and beyond, taking advantage of his relationship with the country to score oil deals through the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program. He contended his dealings with Iraq were lawful.

Wyatt, founder of Houston’s Coastal Corp. — now owned by El Paso Corp. — was accused of providing kickbacks in the form of surcharges to the Iraqi government under former dictator Saddam Hussein to purchase oil under the United Nations Oil-for-Food program between 2000 and 2003.

The Oil-for-Food program was meant to use Iraq’s oil to provide for the country’s poor without benefiting Saddam’s regime, under international sanctions because of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.